Apple Acquires iPhone Power Management Technology in $600 Million Deal With Chipmaker Dialog

Apple has finalized a business agreement with Dialog Semiconductor to license its iPhone power management technology and transfer technical assets, in a deal worth $600 million.

As part of the agreement, Apple will acquire some of the Anglo-German chipmaker's assets and 300 of its R&D staff, which is around 16 percent of Dialog's workforce. Dialog's shares rose as much as 34 percent on the news, their highest since 2002.

Announcing the deal on Thursday, Dialog said Apple would pay it $300 million in cash for the transaction and prepay a further $300 million for products to be delivered to Apple over the next three years. Commenting on the news, Apple SVP Johny Srouji told TechCrunch:

Dialog has deep expertise in chip development, and we are thrilled to have this talented group of engineers who've long supported our products now working directly for Apple. Our relationship with Dialog goes all the way back to the early iPhones, and we look forward to continuing this long-standing relationship with them.

Dialog shares took a tumble in late 2017 when the company admitted that Apple, its top customer, could build its own power management chips for future iPhones without the chipmaker's help.

The admission came as a serious blow to Dialog, which exclusively designs the current main power management chip for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models. Apple reportedly accounted for nearly three quarters of Dialog Semiconductor's revenue in 2016.

However, today's agreement gives Dialog time to reduce its dependence on Apple, which the chipmaker predicts will account for three-quarters of its sales over the course of this year.

Dialog CEO Jalal Bagherli told Reuters the chipmaker could now look forward to a "managed, smooth" transformation of the business as it seeks new opportunities for growth in other markets that could include home speakers, fitness trackers or smart watches.

The deal represents a huge investment for Apple, which will take over Dialog facilities in Italy, Germany, and the U.K., expanding its chip research and development significantly across Europe. Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

Top Rated Comments

Bigger batteries is the new MHz Myth. Or, if you prefer another metaphor/analogy: Car engines can be designed to be more efficient. Putting in a larger gas tank is one solution to increase travel distance but increasing efficiency can also do that and also reduces waste.

It's different. Apple limit the battery life by making things small for the sake of it. Not just in their phones, but all their devices, especially MacBooks. Form over what the user needs/demands most from their tech.

I may be the only person on this planet who finds the battery life now days absolutely ZERO problems.
iPhone takes me fine throughout the day, on wireless charge just before I go to bed. I pick it fully charge the next morning.
Apple Watch series 4 can take me easy throughout 2 days but I put it on the charger every evening anyway because I don't sleep with it.
iPad pro takes me through almost a week.
AirPods take me easy through a week.
MacBook Pro is most of the time connected to LG 4K monitor.
And yes, I travel. When I do I make sure my devices are fully charged prior flights.

Would it be better if the battery lasted weeks on these devices? Yes.
Does it make my life hard charging them daily or every 2 days or every week? Absolutely not.

How much thicker/heavier do you want the Watch to be? How much larger do you really want your AirPods?
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It's different. Apple limit the battery life by making things small for the sake of it. Not just in their phones, but all their devices, especially MacBooks. Form over what the user needs/demands most from their tech.

Users want thinner and lighter MacBooks and Watches. The iPhone has gotten thicker every year since the 6, because form follows function.

Bigger batteries is the new MHz Myth. Car engines can be designed to be more efficient. Putting in a larger gas tank is one solution but increasing efficiency reduced a lot of waste.

I’m not sure what the MHz myth is, but it does remind me of the megapixel myth. More megapixels=better pictures. Your analogy is pretty spot on. Suzuki made their race bikes faster by losing weight, not increasing power.

It's different. Apple limit the battery life by making things small for the sake of it. Not just in their phones, but all their devices, especially MacBooks. Form over what the user needs/demands most from their tech.

The MacBook line has the best battery life in the industry, so they’re obviously doing something right.

Bigger batteries is the new MHz Myth. Car engines can be designed to be more efficient. Putting in a larger gas tank is one solution but increasing efficiency reduced a lot of waste.

I'm getting ~190 Wh/mile on a regular basis in my Model 3 which is 177 MPGe. Engines are absurdly inefficient - if they were actually a good idea, you'd see tiny generators instead of batteries running all your electronic systems.

I have community solar that's covering 90-100+% of my electric consumption - varies from month to month.

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